Wonder Woman: The Return of Wonder Woman
"The Return of Wonder Woman" is the first episode of season two of the superhero action series Wonder Woman and the fifteenth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Alan Crosland with a teleplay written by Stephen Kandel. It first aired on CBS on September 16th, 1977. Synopsis 1977. Somewhere over the Caribbean. Major Steve Trevor, Jr. is on a top secret mission with a plane full of scientists who will develop a nuclear power plant for underdeveloped countries. It seems that during the past few weeks there have been at least four very effective terrorist attacks on countries belonging to the Organization of American States. They're heading to a top-secret conference in a Latin American country called Samarra. Meanwhile secluded in Washington D.C., at his headquarters, Dr. Solano , an international terrorist leader, is watching the conversation at the plane. Soon after the flight is sabotaged by a henchman of Dr. Solano; but, through the power of the Amazons, is brought down on Paradise Island. Major Trevor, the crew and the passengers are now all unconscious. Paradise Island - An uncharted body of land in the Bermuda Triangle. As Princess Diana and other Amazons discover the plane and its occupants, they realize they haven't seen a male since 1942 -the Second World War. It seems that Diana has been retired to Paradise Island for 35 years now, since the end of the War. She stares in disbelief when she first notices Steve. She cannot believe that it could possible be Major General Steve Trevor, Sr. Soon after, her mother, the Queen of Paradise Island, explains to Diana that humans marry, breed and the children grow up to be adults. "He was named after his father, the late Major General Steve Trevor". The Steve she is seeing, is the son of the man Diana worked for and was so very fond of during World War II. And she realizes that "ordinary humans have a sort of immortality, at that". After examining the plane, Diana learns that Paradise Island is threatened. She explains her mother that "this time, is not one nation against others, but an organization trying to destroy all governments". She convinces her mother that she must once again go into the outside world, not only to help protect the free world from its enemies, but in this age of radar, sonar and laser scanning, protect the secret of Paradise Island and its ancient culture. The Queen agrees and prepares Diana to leave. In a Council the Amazons vote and all agree to send Diana to the outside world. Nevertheless, Evadne "in the spirit of sisterly competition and in keeping with the traditions of Paradise Island" challenges her cousin Princess Diana "to the supreme text of Bullets and Bracelets". Diana happily accepts the challenge, and easily wins the contest. Steve, under light hypnosis, is told that he has been assigned a new assistant. "Her name is Diana Prince. She will report to you in Samarra. You will remember, without conflict". With much ceremony, she hands her the belt of strength; the gold lasso of truth and then forgetfulness, the bracelets and tiara, the invisible plane and the garb of justice. As she whirls into Wonder Woman, her mother tells her: "Remember, in the outside world, without these things that I have given you, you are only an ordinary woman with no special powers". And she adds: "If you need me, you can contact me through the ruby of your tiara". Back in the plane, Asclepia tells Diana that with a tune of a special flute the unconscious passengers will regain consciousness. Meanwhile her invisible plane is waiting for her, before they're fully awake she will transfer to it and then be able to get to Samarra before them. Before leaving the Queen gives Diana some very old tetra- drachmae which will be useful for her to get some money to use in the outside world. Wonder Woman starts the plane again, and then she plays the flute. As Steve and the crew regain consciousness, they are baffled as to where they were for two days. As they land in Samarra, Steve and the scientists realize they've been lost for two days. Steve realizes he must conduct an investigation. Soon after Colonel Acevo takes Steve to meet with his associate, Diana Prince. Diana informs Steve that they have a meeting that evening at the Institute of Technology. That evening, Diana and Steve attend a meeting with envoys from various countries and are greeted by Gloria Marquez, who's supposed to be a representative of Guanaray, but who in fact is the aide to Dr. Solano. Gloria Marquez announces that the chairperson for the meeting is the "Honorable representative from the Republic of Guanaray" Dr. Solano. Diana makes an observation about Solano's name. After calling the meeting to order, Dr. Solano questions Steve on the means of transporting the nuclear generating plant to the country of Samarra. Steve, knowing it is top secret, does not answer. Solano instructs Gloria to get the details of the airlift and to make contact with Steve when they all return to Washington. Washington D.C. several days later. On her first day in Washington, Diana is introduced to the IRAC Retrieval Associative Computer computer to which Diana tries to program with some false facts about her file: Identity: Diana Prince. Female. Age, 25. Past employment: Inter Agency Defense Command, Overseas Division, past three years. Prior: Student, University of California, Berkeley campus. Record damaged, confirmation by interview. Current Grade: GS-16. Though the IRAC computer seems to be unable to accept false data, Diana overrides the program code and the information for her file is accepted. Not long after Diana tries to get some cash out the drachmae that her mother gave her, and rents an apartment. As she does all that, Gloria Marquez is closely observing her and later informs Solano about her activities. Later that night, and following Solano's orders, Gloria Marquez enters Diana's apartment in order to bug her phone. Diana enters the apartment and ends up catfighting with Gloria. She tries to gas Diana and escapes. Soon after she calls Steve to inform about the woman ransacking her apartment while Solano's listening to the conversation. The next morning as Diana comes to the IADC, secretary Beverly Ryan informs her that her new office is ready, and after that, Steve introduces Joe Atkinson to her. Diana and Steve are driving to Blandings Air Force Base to attend a high level meeting. A car from behind, traveling at high speed, attempts to drive Steve's car off the road. A truck from another direction blocks Steve and he is driven off the road. As the men from the truck and the car approach, Steve tells Diana to make a run for it. She reaches an isolated spot and whirls into Wonder Woman. Steve is now unconscious and the men quickly substitute an exact duplicate of his watch. Wonder Woman demands the watch back. As the men attempt to grab her, she hurls one man into the air and destroys the truck and the car. Steve recovers and realizes how damaging it could have been if he had gone into a top secret Air Force briefing bugged with a substitute watch. He is amazed with Wonder Woman. He reminisces about the stories his father told him about Wonder Woman during World War II. Solano is amazed with Wonder Woman's powers and abilities, and orders Gloria to investigate her. He even sus-pects that Wonder Woman could be a robot, having himself one of his own, combining a sophisticated servo-mechanism with computer controls. Solano plans to use the robot to confront Wonder Woman and a fake Steve to get her. Being his plan foiled and realizing they must get the details on the nuclear airlift, Dr. Solano and Gloria invite Steve and Diana to a reception at their Embassy. With the excuse that someone wants to meet Steve, Gloria takes him down a side corridor; two burly men seize him and jab him with a hypodermic. A man, a perfect duplicate of Steve, appears and takes the real Steve's ID, cufflinks, etc. The false Steve then quickly goes to the Air Force Base and dispatches the planes carrying the nuclear power plant to another destination. Returning to the party and Diana, he plays a believable Government official, but alone with Diana, his actions are completely different from the real Steve's. Her suspicions are confirmed when the false Steve lies about a known fact concerning Steve Trevor, Sr. A fight follows, but Diana manages to reach her bedroom and whirls into Wonder Woman. As she whips out her lasso and whirls it around him, she demands to know where the real Steve is and where the false Steve sent the cargo planes. The false Steve, completely beaten, tells her everything. Wonder Woman and Steve are now racing against time. They board Wonder Woman's invisible plane and arrive at the destination before the cargo planes. Steve and wonder Woman surprise Solano and Gloria, but as Wonder Woman captures Solano, Gloria points Steve with a gun. Solano proposes a duel with sabers and Wonder Woman accepts. What she doesn't know is that the Solano she'll be facing is in fact the robot. As the unscrupulous Dr. Solano and Gloria try to escape through a mine, an explosion occurs and they are killed. The cargo planes are send to the correct country and Wonder Woman and Steve are pleased they averted an international disaster. Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Co-Stars Notes & Trivia * * Based on characters created by Charles Moulton. * Developed for television by Stanley Ralph Ross. * Production code number: 166701. * Executive producer Wilfred Lloyd Baumes is credited as Wilford Lloyd Baumes in this episode. * Actor Norman Burton is credited as Normann Burton in this episode. * Actress Jessica Walter is credited as a "Special Guest Star" in this episode. * Queen Hippolyta is credited only as "The Queen" in this episode. * Actress Johana De Winter is credited as Johana DeWinter in this episode. * Actress Brooke Bundy is uncredited for her participation in this episode. * Actor John Philip Dayton is uncredited for his participation in this episode. ".]] * This is the first, and to date, only episodic television work for actor Raye Sheffield, who plays Doctor Andrea in this episode. * The show takes a major dramatic shift in setting and venue beginning with this episode. With season two, Wonder Woman leaves the ABC network and begins airing on CBS. Also, the timeline shifts from the early 1940s to the then present-day era of 1977. Actor Lyle Waggoner continues to play Steve Trevor, but now he is portraying the son of his character from season one. * Steve Trevor, Jr. is the first character seen in this episode. It is also the first appearance of the character on the series. * This episode introduces the character of Joe Atkinson, who will make nine appearances in the series in total throughout season two. * This is the first appearance of actress Beatrice Straight in the role of Queen Hippolyta. * This is the first television work for actress Raye Sheffield. It is her only work in episode television, though she does appear in two television movies in 1979 and 1982. * Steve Trevor, Sr. appears in this episode courtesy of flashback archival footage from season one. * The name of the airline that the plane shown in the beginning of the episode is Jet Star. The plane itself is number N207L. * The country of Samarra that Steve Trevor speaks of is a fictional country located in Latin America. It has no connection to the city of Sāmarrā in Iraq. * The lavender outfit that Princess Diana is wearing in the beginning of this episode is the same one that she wears in the original pilot movie, "The New Original Wonder Woman". * It is established in this episode that Steve Trevor, Sr. died some time after World War II. * The Bullets and Bracelets contest was first demonstrated in the pilot episode of the series, "The New Original Wonder Woman". Allusions * When Princess Diana first finds Steve Trevor, she instantly calls him "Steve". This is because of Trevor's uncanny resemblance to his father, Steve Trevor, Sr., whom Diana knew back in the 1940s (it also helps that they were both played by the same actor). * Princess Diana makes reference to World War II in this episode. World War II took place from 1938 to 1945 and was a key backdrop for season one of Wonder Woman. * Hippolyta makes reference to Athena in this episode. Athena is the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. Bloopers * When Diana is running through the jungle carrying what is supposed to be Steve Trevor's unconscious body, it is very clear that she is actually carrying a dummy (and by dummy, we actually DON'T mean Steve Trevor this time). * Although Steve Trevor's airplane crash lands, the coffee cups remain upright. * During Diana Prince's knuckleduster with the masked Gloria Marquez, Jessica Walter's stunt double's shirt is pulled up several times, revealing a white bra. In the close-up shots where the actual actors are used, her shirt is shown to be ripped in the back, revealing part of the bra, which is now beige. Quotes * Steve Trevor, Jr.: When I was a kid, my father raised me on stories about Wonder Woman. How they worked together and all the adventures that they had. I used to think he exaggerated. * Wonder Woman: You're father was a very truthful man. * Steve Trevor, Jr.: He must have been. He also said you were gorgeous. .... * Doctor Solano: Peace, order, these have to be born out of blood and violence. But once it's done, I'll give humanity a new world, a new paradise. I have to use terror. I bear the weight of that. Because in the future, in my future, they may very well build monuments to me. .... * Steve Trevor, Jr.: Joe's been in the intelligence racket since the days of Roosevelt. * Joe Atkinson: I wish you'd specify that was Franklin and not Theodore. .... * Doctor Solano: She must be an experimentally enhanced agent in Trevor's apartment. Very effective. .... * Wonder Woman: And as for age, I will be 2,527 years old on my next birthday. * Steve Trevor, Jr.: Yeah, well, you're in pretty good shape for your age. .... * Wonder Woman: Leave the girl alone! * Steve Trevor's double: Who are you? * Wonder Woman: Never mind who I am! Where's Steve Trevor? * Steve Trevor's double: It's none of your business. (Wonder Woman Grabs Steve Trevor's double's & Flips him & She Places the Lasso of Truth on him) * Wonder Woman: Where's Steve Trevor & Where did you send the cargo planes? * Steve Trevor's double: I... * Wonder Woman: Answer Me! * Steve Trevor's double: Solano's Estate outside Arlington. 41 River Christ Road. * Wonder Woman: And where did you send the cargo planes? * Steve Trevor's double: Guanaray. Um? Real Sako Minesite, craved out a airstrip there. It's too late they're gone. It's too late. See also External Links * * * * * * Category:1977/Episodes {Arnold Turner}} [[Category:Episodes with crew categories]